4/5 ★ – Lord_Hazenberg's review of Resident Evil 4.
Enough has been said about this great remake, so I’ll just make a quick comparison to how I feel this holds up against the classic original RE4. There will be story spoilers for both games so beware.
Pros:
- Luis & Krauser are much better in the remake. The former getting more screen time & fixing his completely random death in the original, and the latter getting his motivations for turning evil expanded on.
- the improvement in technology has allowed for better interactions between Leon & the villains. Saddler speaking to him through the infection vs calling him over the radio in the original.
- getting rid of the infinite enemy spawns in certain set pieces
- getting rid of the U3 boss fight and that god forsaken timed maze section in the underground
- changing the mine carts to an action set piece thus conserving your resources
- the knife parry is a good addition and thoroughly improves both Krauser boss fights
- Ashley is a little more capable & softer around the edges than her original incarnation
- expanding the merchant challenges for more in game rewards
- expanding the lore of certain characters upon revisiting areas
- adding lockers for Ashley to hide in during certain encounters
Equals/Neutrals:
- the faster combat has made some boss fights much easier
- not having to heal Ashley can be easier on your resources but you also don’t feel as much of a protector with an immortal companion
- the remake will obviously have better graphics & animations but both games look fantastic for their times
- light stealth mechanics was an interesting addition but felt it wasn’t needed very often
- some story sections flow better in each game like the village section in the original versus the island base in the remake
- removing the QTEs is understandable but they did provide the original with some memorable moments
Cons:
- remake combat versus normal enemies is incredibly annoying with the enemies being too jumpy
- the double gigante & Salazar fights are worse in the remake
- adding crafting dilutes the consumable pool a lot as I found myself constantly lacking ammo because the game instead spawns materials for other ammo I don’t need
- Ashley’s commands are more annoying in the remake as she’s constantly getting grabbed but at least you don’t have to heal her
- I miss the cheese & charm of the original though some will prefer the more serious tone
- new English actress for Ada is terrible
- the new regenerator introduction is completely botched & they’re insanely annoying to fight with the new twitchy AI
- the new intro sequence isn’t as strong
- giving a stun move to the remake red lantern guys was really annoying
Final thoughts are this game rules. Resident Evil 4 remake is a great game that does improve on its foundation in some aspects while regressing in others. Probably not my favorite of these new remakes as I feel 2’s was a little stronger, but it’s definitely an improvement after the 4 hour remake of 3.